England opened their qualifying campaign for the UEFA Euro 2024 with a bang winning 2-1 away against Italy. It was a record-breaking night for Harry Kane as he finally became the all-time top goal scorer for England from a penalty right at the stroke of half-time after Declan Rice gave them the lead inside 13 minutes. Argentinian-born striker Mateo Retegui pulled one back with a goal in his debut for the Azzurri but it proved not enough at the end. Left-back Luke Shaw also received his second booking towards the end of the match as England held on for the win. With this victory, the Three Lions got their long-standing revenge over Italy after losing the Euro 2021 final at Wembley.
Gareth Southgate's men started brightly from the get-go with Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma into action. It did not take long for England to score the opener as Kane’s shot from a corner rebounded to Rice to finish on the volley. Italy fell to defend the Tottenham Hotspurs striker from a corner again as his header hit Di Lorenzo’s hand albeit from a close range. Referee Srdan Jovanovic went to the screen after remonstrations and pointed to the spot taking a second view of the incident. Harry Kane blazed his penalty against France in the exit from the World Cup last year but this time he kept his cool and composure to send Donnarumma the wrong way for the milestone goal. The Azzurri took till the 56th minute to have a shot on target which ended in a goal from Retegui who was set up by Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini. Shaw was sent off after receiving two yellows in quick succession although it did not trouble the score-line for a comfortable win for the visitors.
First time in Italy
The 2-1 victory at Naples was historical for England as it was their first win in 62 years facing the Azzurri in Italy. It was a friendly match on that occasion in 1961 in which Three Lions claimed a thrilling 3-2 win. Gerry Hitchens scored a brace while Jimmy Greaves got the winner in the 86th minute. England also claimed their first victory over Italy after going winless in six matches including the loss in the previous Euros and the two Nations League matches last year. This was the 10th victory for England in overall meetings.
Record Scorer
54 - Harry Kane has the @England men's record for:
Goals scored (54)
Goals as captain (46)
Goals via penalties (18)
Goals in a single year (16 in 2021)
Goals in major tournaments (12)
Legend. pic.twitter.com/7hrK8G5YRt
The headlines belonged to Harry Kane as he surpassed Wayne Rooney's tally of 53 goals to become the all-time top goal scorer for England with his first-half penalty. This was the second scoring record he broke in a year after breaking Jimmy Greaves’s record at Tottenham with his 267th strike. Kane has also scored the most goals being a captain for his national side with 46 of the 54 strikes coming while wearing the armband. The 29-year-old scored the most goals for England from penalties with 18 and in major tournaments where he has bagged 12 strikes. 48 of his goals have come in competitive appearances too.
50 up
Gareth Southgate also hit a landmark moment as he became the third manager to reach 50 wins while in charge of the England Men’s team. Only Walter Winterbottom with 78 wins and Sir Alf Ramsey with 69 are ahead of him on the list. He also matched the former’s record of 82 games taken for the half-century of wins. Southgate also ranks second in terms of winning percentage as the England men’s team manager.
One and only
Mateo Retegui scored a well-taken debut goal for Italy and doing so became the only player in the history of the men’s team to score for his nation while playing his club football out of Europe. The Tigre forward already became one of the few players to represent the nation not being born in the country.
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